February 11, 2009

Today's Hotness: Algernon Cadwallader, Bill Janovitz


>> Be Happy Records has reissued the debut "demo" 7" from Philly-based emo superlatives Algernon Cadwallader, and so we are finally initiating coverage of the act with an emphatic "buy" rating. A 2008 re-pressing of the release, originally issued in 2006, sold out briskly. The disc includes four tracks, "Second Rate Machines," "Breath Wish," "Look Down..." and "Sailor Set Sell." Those unfamiliar with the act(which in the excellent video clip above is a four-piece, but at its MySpace lists itself as a trio?) will be surprised to learn it sounds very convincingly like the fabled Kinsella-led second-wave emo goliath Cap'n Jazz. Which is a long way of saying that Algernon Cadwallader is awesome. Be Happy also sells a full-length from the band titled Some Kind Of Cadwallader, which sold out of its initial April 2008 pressing of 1,096 units (uh, random) and is now available via a second tranche of 1,100 made available last August. A 7" for "Hot Green" is expected soon, although not so soon that you can pre-order it anywhere. That piece of vinyl will be packaged with a CD of the tracks and other unspecified "extras." Who doesn't love extras? Anyhoo, the band makes a return to live playing later this month; Algernon Cadwallader had been sidelined since early November, when drummer Tank broke his ankle 12 days into what was to have been a nine-week U.S. tour. Check out the awesome clip of the band playing "Serial Killer Status" in Amherst, Mass. last June. We've posted the confirmed forthcoming dates below. We're actually hoping to get the band on-board for a Show Us Yours feature, but so far every time we've tried to message them via MySpace News Corp.'s awesome web site blocks my message because it considers it Spam. Awesome web site you got there, Rupert...

02/21 -- Lingerie Room -- Harrisburg, PA
03/11 -- Danger Danger -- Philadelphia, PA
03/14 -- Stomping Grounds -- Lancaster, PA

>> If you have yet to catch on to what Bill Janovitz -- who you may know better as the guitarist and singer in Buffalo Tom or the fronter of Crown Victoria -- is up to, it is time to seize the day. Mr. Janovitz has been posting at his blog a dazzling selection of acoustic covers over the last few months as part of his series Cover Of The Week. If anything the cuts are amazing because he has selected some of our favorite songs, including The Replacements' "Little Mascara," Palace Music's "Agnes, Queen Of Sorrow," Tom Waits' "Johnsburg, Ill." and, most recently, The Clash's "Straight To Hell." Get thee to this link and start following along or RSSing or whatever it is the kids do these days. We recall listening to a pre-release version of "Agnes, Queen Of Sorrow" in our dog Matt's mother's driveway in Amherst, Mass. when we were still in college together, and the song has been a favorite since Oldham uttered that first line. Janovitz most certainly does the song justice, so we're posting it below. Janovitz has a residency at Toad in Cambridge, Mass. every Saturday night of this month, and we're holding out hope that we'll actually make it to one. All those dates are in our sidebar, which in case you haven't noticed has had a little something called Clicky Clicky Club Picks in it since the beginning of the year.

Bill Janovitz -- "Agnes, Queen Of Sorrow" -- Cover Of The Week
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[buy Buffalo Tom records from Newbury Comics here]
[buy Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria records from Newbury Comics here]
[buy Palace Brothers records from Newbury Comics here]

>> We can report that one additional 2009 vinyl release alluded to by Austin, Texas-based indie juggernauts Ringo Deathstarr last week will be issued by UK-based SVC Records; it remains unclear whether there will be others. SVC, which originally issued the band's exceptional 2007 self-titled EP, will offer this spring or summer a two-song 7" from The Deathstarr. The band is said to have plans to finish recording the tracks sometime soon. Notably, the single will be SVC's first vinyl release. The label expects to offer records from Sky Drops and The Vandelles prior to the single hitting racks. As we reported here last week, Maryland-based indie label Fan Death will reissue (and issue on vinyl for the very first time) Ringo Deathstarr's excellent Ringo Deathstarr EP as a hot pink 12" in a limited edition of 500.

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